The four PEUGEOT 2008 DKRs left Buenos Aires in the early afternoon heading for Rosario, with the prologue stage en route. This was just 11 kilometres long, but it determined the starting order for the first proper leg on Sunday, and also counted towards the overall classification.
• Carlos Sainz set the second-fastest time, just three seconds off the leader, after dropping a bit of time when he lost the car’s bonnet just before a river crossing.
• Stéphane Péterhansel, Sébastien Loeb and Cyril Despres all set an identical time of 6m17s. They will start from ninth, 10th and 11th positions respectively tomorrow. Sainz will be second on the road.
• The first stage of the rally takes place on Sunday, with the first car getting underway at 11:18. The day’s action takes competitors toward the west of Argentina, from Rosario to Villa Carlos Paz (just to the south of Cordoba). In total, competitors will cover 1008 kilometres, with 662 timed kilometres of special stage.
Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport director:
“It’s good that our four 2008 DKRs have come out unscathed and well-placed from the prologue stage. And it’s allowed us to detect a small weakness in the front bonnet attachment, which we will rectify. This has really just been a warm-up day for the whole team, before we get to the proper action on Sunday.”
Classification
1. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD)/Tom Colsoul (BEL), Toyota Hilux, en 6’08
2. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, +0’03
3. Xavier Pons (ESP)/Adrian Torlaschi Ricardo (ARG), Ford, + 0’04
4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Mini All 4 Racing, + 0’05
5. Marek Dabrowski (POL)/Jacek Czachor (POL), Toyota Hilux, + 0’05
9. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, + 0’09
10. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (MC), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, + 0’09
11. Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, + 0’09
